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NTR) said today that they are pleased with Chile's Constitutional Court decision to dismiss the Pampa Group's constitutional claim concerning the pending sale of a 24 percent minority stake in SQM to Tianqi. This allows the Tribunal de Defensa de la Libre Competencia ("TDLC") to rule on the reconsideration motions filed by the Pampa Group, SQM and Conadecus against the TDLC's initial decision.

The court's president said an "extraordinary session" would decide whether to hear in full a complaint by SQM's majority shareholder that the country's antitrust court failed to follow due process in approving a settlement between Tianqi and Chilean regulators. The agreement cleared the way for the Chinese miner to purchase a 24 percent stake in SQM , the world's No. 2 producer of lithium.

A rebound in mining mergers and acquisitions is set to continue into 2019, led by companies from top metals consumer China, as a dearth of exploration spending leaves the industry in need of fresh investment, delegates told a conference on Thursday. Sector M&A in mining powerhouse Canada had its best quarter in more than seven years in July-September, spurred by Barrick Gold Corp's planned $6.5 billion acquisition of Randgold and Chinese firm Zijin Mining's C$1.86 billion ($1.43 billion) deal to buy Nevsun Resources . "We think that this year and next year will be the years of consolidation," Keith Spence, president of Canada-based Global Mining Capital Corp, told the China Mining conference in Tianjin.

Lithium producer Livent Corp shares fell in their market debut on Thursday, the second poor showing for a lithium IPO in as many days, even as the company's chief executive dismissed oversupply concerns and forecast surging demand for the white metal. Livent, spun off from chemicals producer FMC Corp, enters a lithium market struggling to predict how fast electric vehicles will be adopted. Lithium is use to make electric vehicle batteries.

Chilean lithium miner SQM objected to the terms of a deal drawn up between the country's anti-trust regulator and the Chinese miner Tianqi which hopes to buy almost a quarter of SQM, its lawyers told the country's anti-trust court on Thursday. An attorney representing SQM told Chile’s anti-trust court, which must approve the settlement between the regulator and Tianqi, that the measures agreed upon were not sufficient to limit the Chinese miners access to SQM's commercially-sensitive information. "There is not much hope that these efforts to mitigate the effects of the deal will achieve the desired result," said Maria Isabel Diaz Velasco, a lawyer for SQM.

The pivot comes as battery makers such as Panasonic Corp , the sole battery supplier to Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), increasingly demand more purified versions of lithium that can help boost electricity storage and increase a battery's charge, shaping Albemarle's strategy, according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters and confirmed by the company. Once used primarily as a pharmacological treatment for bipolar disorder, lithium has become one of the world's most in-demand commodities thanks to the rising popularity of electric vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. Albemarle's strategy, which includes developing a battery research center near its North Carolina headquarters, is aimed at setting it apart from its major competitors, including Chile's SQM (SQMa.SN) and China's Tianqi Lithium Corp .

Moody's Investors Service continues to review for downgrade Tianqi Lithium Corporation's Baa3 issuer rating and the Baa3 senior unsecured rating on the bonds issued by Tianqi Finco Co., Ltd and guaranteed by Tianqi Lithium. The rating review was initiated on 18 May 2018, after Tianqi Lithium announced on 17 May 2018 that it had signed an agreement with Nutrien Ltd. (Baa2 stable) to buy a 23.8% stake in Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. (SQM, Baa1 stable) for a consideration of USD4.1 billion.

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra told Reuters his government will likely pass laws within six months needed to tap a new lithium and uranium deposit, removing a major hurdle for Canadian miner Plateau Energy Metals' proposed $800 million mine. Plateau said last month it had found 2.5 million tonnes of high-grade lithium resources and 124 million pounds of uranium resources at its Falchani deposit in southern Peru, and was looking for a partner in what it said could become the world's biggest lithium mine.

Tianqi Lithium Corp said its board has approved the planned expansion of lithium production at the Greenbushes mine in Western Australia, the world's largest hard rock lithium mine, amid hot demand for electric vehicle batteries. Tianqi said the A$516 million ($382 million) expansion would boost production capacity at the operation to 1.8 million tonnes of chemical grade lithium concentrate by 2021, in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late on Tuesday. Project operator Talison Lithium, a joint venture between Tianqi and U.S.-based Albemarle Corp, said on Wednesday that work on the expansion is expected to begin in the first quarter next year.